Thing 13

There are many things about Facebook that I enjoy.  I have been a member for about one year and have many "friends."  The funny thing is, I originally signed up because of my husband and now I'm the one online all the time.

I really enjoy being able to search for family that I had lost touch with.  It's also fun to see what my high school classmates have been up to over the years.  Emailing each other through Facebook is so much easier than trying to remember what everyone's email address is.  Facebook has changed its look and, at first, it was not liked by the users.  There was this big uprising in Facebook world that they wanted the old way back.  However, the new look has stayed and I have become used to it.  I like that I can see the most recent updates by friends quickly.  I do forget to check out my friends is they haven't posted new things for all to see.  Also, inviting people to take the quizzes or sending flair or posting pictures and videos can be fun.  I post both pictures and videos for my "friends" to see.  I make sure that only those who are networked with me can view them.  This is a safety thing for me.  In the long run, I'm a Facebook addict now and love it.  I'm even getting my husband to check it more often.

Twitter on the other hand, is not something that I find useful for me.  It's like posting very short emails to the world.  In order to keep up, one must post frequently and that can be a pain.  I don't text or instant message well because the English teacher in me is very bothered by the lingo.

Students do use these tools on a very frequent basis.  If there could be a safe way to incorporate this into the classroom setting, I know they would LOVE it.  One of the biggest safety things that I would tell my students is to be careful about what they post.  They truly believe that bad things can't happen to them, when that just isn't true.  We as educators, quite frankly, need to use scare tactics to get them to understand that once it's out there, it's out there.  Some people are out there to find victims and we must teach our students to be aware and safe.  Getting parents involved, again, is essential.

CR